If you discover bed bugs in your home, there is no question that your day has suddenly taken a very bad turn for the worse.

Finding insects in your bed is never a good thing. At the very least though, you now know why you have been waking up with itchy bites on your body. Bed bugs drink blood and will do so at night on any part of skin that is available to them. Bed bugs are tiny though, so you are not likely to wake up when they do bite. The itch comes from your body's allergic reaction to the bug's saliva and the reaction means an itchy bump, or for some, hives or rashes.

Bed bugs do not migrate on their own but rather they travel around via something else. People assume that bed bugs are the result of being unclean or not having proper sanitation. Bed bugs simply exist, like mosquitoes, and do what they can to stay alive. Perhaps you bought something at a yard sale and the bed bugs came home with you on the object. Perhaps you went traveling and they came home with you in your luggage. Or maybe you had houseguests who happened to have one along for the ride. Even college kids who come home from school may bring them in from their dorms.

Avoid Do-It-Yourself Methods

The second people discover they have bed bugs, they want to be rid of them. Quite right. However, it also means that they may think they can get rid of the bugs on their own. Not quite right. The problem with bed bugs is their impressive, yet highly frustrating, ability to hide and survive. These little guys will hide anywhere they can - which is precisely why they were able to come home with someone in the first place. Common hiding places are in beds and in carpeting. But there are a lot of other places they are comfortable hiding: behind picture frames, behind wallpaper, in magazines, in clothes, in any crack or crevice in the wall or in the floor, and many others.

This is why getting rid of bed bugs yourself is so hard to do. There are so many ways you might miss a few bed bugs, thus leading to the problem eventually starting over again. In addition to this, bed bug eggs will actually stick to surfaces, which means even vacuuming cannot always get them up. Getting rid of bed bugs permanently is a very time-intensive, very thorough, and very precise procedure.

Let Professionals Take Care of It

Exterminators who have handled bed bugs for years and years will know exactly what to do when you give them a call. They have excellent knowledge when it comes to rooting out bed bugs and putting treatments exactly where they need to be, in order to make sure that even bed bugs that are hiding will never come out again. Bed bug eggs will be destroyed so they never hatch, and the room will be cleaned and bed bug free once again. It's all about getting it right the first time.

A good company will charge you a fair price and do an excellent job so you don't have to worry about anything afterward. They will follow up with you to make sure that you are still in good shape, and will do everything possible to remedy the situation if you are not.